Celebrity palm reader Eva Petulengro reveals all about amazing career

CLAIRVOYANT Eva Petulengro is a member of the last generation of true Romany gypsies.

CLAIRVOYANT Eva Petulengro is a member of the last generation of true Romany gypsies.

She didn't go to school and was 21 before she lived in a house. When she was unwell, she'd gather wild herbs instead of going to a doctor.

Eva began reading palms as a teenager and gained such a reputation that her clients grew to include the Beatles and members of the royal family. She was flown to Hollywood to read the fortunes of stars such as Michael Caine and Joan Collins.

Now 72, she has written the first book of her memoirs, The Girl In The Painted Caravan, and is coming to Scotland this summer on a fortune-telling tour with her daughter, Claire, who is also a famous clairvoyant and astrologer.

While Eva is relishing the chance to take to the road again, this time it will involve comfortable hotels rather than a beautiful wooden caravan that was her childhood home.

The people who come to see her, to have their palms read or for tarot card or crystal ball, are a mixture of the curious and those with a problem.

While she doesn't enjoy giving unwelcome news, one of her mottos is "To be forewarned is to be forearmed."

She added: "There's no such thing as bad news. If you can see something, you can warn against it. I can tell people what to do but I can't make them do it."

Eva was born into a traditional Romany family, although her father was a gorger, their name for a non-Romany.

While still a child, Eva learned palmistry and tarot at her mother's knee and was soon giving readings herself.

She knew from the instant she looked into her daughter's eyes, moments after her birth, that she too was clairvoyant.

And she believes two of her grandchildren, Claire's daughters Paris, 10, and Carmen, six, also have the gift.

Eva said: "Carmen is quite psychic and is learning to read tarot cards already. In our family, it's not unusual.

"Two of my sons have got the gift but they prefer not to use it. Romany men tend to see it as women's work."

Romany families travelled around the country and the thrill of not knowing where she would wake up is a memory Eva still remembers fondly. She said: "It's like children who are going on holiday. We had that excitement every day."

The pictures in her book show a glamorous young woman with a very romantic lifestyle.

The photos from her family's collection were important, she said, to show they weren't the stereotype of "dirty gypsies". From a young age, she was aware of prejudice.

She said: "It was them and us. I was mostly raised by my mother, who was as strong as a bull. I was influenced by her family so I never felt like half and half."

The idea of the book comes from her childhood when she taught herself to read and write aged eight and started using libraries.

Eva said: "Things I was reading, particularly about Romany people, were so inaccurate that I felt at an early age I had to set the record straight.

"You've got your Irish travellers which are like the Big Fat Gypsy Wedding type, who are not like us. At 16, their young ladies are taught to clean the caravans and that's their life.

"With us, we're taught all about the lines of the hands, how to do readings, mix herbs and all the rest of it.

"The men are not like our men whose life is to look after horses. Romany men were in with all the farmers so we were able to stay on their land. They'd be waiting for us every time we went, the village women for readings and the farmers and the racehorse people for our men to tend to their horses."

Eva continued: "There are other types of travellers. You've got tinkers and ones we call hedgecrawlers because they're nothing.

"They go around posing as proper people and getting credit. Then you've got the New Age travellers. They're all lumped together as gypsies.

"Romanies are totally different." The Romany way of life began to change when Eve was 21 and her family moved into a flat in Brighton, next-door to Laurence Olivier.

It was certainly a culture shock for Eva. From living in a 22ft caravan, with all her family in one room, there was space and privacy. Being able to run a tap instead of fetching and carrying water was just one delight. Soon Eva began her clairvoyant career in earnest and became a famous attraction on Brighton Pier.

As her fame spread, her clients became ever more famous. A young Prince Edward had his palm read by Eva while Paul McCartney was told he wouldn't marry his girlfriend Jane Asher but was destined to wed a fair-haired American with an independent spirit who would make him very happy.

One of Eva's favourite clients was Joan Collins. She said: "She is one of the most amazing women I've ever met. She'd just made The Stud when I met her in Brighton and I predicted she'd go abroad and do something even bigger. Of course, Dynasty happened next.

"I gave readings to Michael Caine and his wife Shakira and they entertained me at their house in Hollywood. He cooked me a curry.

"Bob Monkhouse was a client who became a great friend. He was an amazing man and wrote a wonderful poem about me. Michael Crawford came to see me many times as well. But there's lots of people I can't tell about.

"Their problems, the rich and famous, are exactly the same as ours. I used to think they were lucky but fame and fortune can be a burden."

Eva also wrote a column for the Sunday Mail, the Record's sister paper, where she received more than 2000 letters a week.

She's desperately proud of her roots and said: "Most of my family live in houses but they've still got their caravans parked at the side or the back."